How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Fah who for-aze! Dah who dor-aze! Welcome Christmas, Come this way!

Hey guys! Here we are at week three. For those of you that do not know, I know that I posted on Facebook and sent some emails out… I came in 2nd place for week one!!! woohoo I cannot believe it. I didn’t win anything, but it was still cool to know that I came in second in my first nail art challenge ever. The voting for the second week (“A Christmas Story” – theme gifts) ends the end of the day Wednesday December 5th so be sure to get your votes in!(link at bottom of page)

This weeks theme is, “Trim the tree, Holiday decorations” I chose How the Grinch stole Christmas. see below for inspiration pics and polishes used etc. Voting for week 3 ends Wednesday, Dec 12th, click here to vote please!! I came in 2nd on the first week and 4th on the second week.

I did the Whoville tree with them singing around the tree on my thumb and pointer finger, inspired by this picture:

Here is my nail art inspired by the picture, I drew the top of the tree with the star on my index finger into my thumb which was the bottom, some snow and some of the who’s around the tree holding hands

Next was Cindy Lou Who

Inspired by this picture:

Lastly, on my ring and pinky I drew this, on the very left of the picture you have the fireplace and the grinch shoving it up the tree, I drew his back at the top of the tree as he is bending over shoving it up fireplace. I drew his hat as he is bent over, his feets under the tree on pinky and one hand gripping it on the ring finger. I already had so much detail and its very hard, (not being a real artist) drawing so small on fingernails with nail polish!

Inspired by this pic:

This weeks challenge for sure took the longest! but I had so much fun doing it! I used a variety of very small brushes, and the following polishes:

“Milani – white”, “China Glaze – Adventure Red-y” , “Sally Hanson – Ruby Sequin”, “Revlon – Coastal Surf”, “OPI – Pompeii Purple”, “Julep – Oscar”, “Urban Decay – Mars”, “Spoiled by Wet N’ Wild – Designated Driver”, “Essie – Aruba Blue”, “Julep – Sophia”, “China Glaze – Liquid Leather”, “Ulta – Cream of the crop” , “Barry M- Bright Red”, “OPI – I think in Pink”, “Ulta – Sweet Nothing”, “OPI -Deutsche you want me baby”, “Julep – Kelly”, “Ulta – Celebutante”, “Color Club – pucci licious”.

Be sure to check out everyones and vote! (hopefully for me)

Don’t forget you still have until the end of the day Wednesday the 5th to vote for my “A Christmas Story nails” for Week 2. click here to vote.

A Christmas Story – Bunny Suit

The second weeks challenge was “gifts”.

The first thing gift giving makes me think of is those horrible gifts you would occasionally get as a kid (Bad Christmas sweaters etc.), which reminded me of one of my favorite holiday movies “A Christmas Story” and the terrible christmas gift that Ralphie got from his Aunt Clara, the infamous “Bunny Suit”. So I ran with it and decided to go with a ‘Christmas Story’ theme for my nails, including some of the gifts therein.

I first painted two coats of “Sally Hansen – Platinum Frost” on all of my nails, then the inspiration for each nail is as follows:

Thumb: Christmas tree to put presents under in their living room on Christmas day, Painted by hand with a brush using “Urban Decay – Mars” then did some random sized Christmas balls using “Barry M – Red” and “Milani – white”

Pointer: Ralphie’s stocking where Santa leaves him stocking stuffers, using “Barry M – Red” and “Milani – white” I painted the stocking with a brush and used a toothpick and “China Glaze – liquid leather” to write Ralph.

Middle: Ralphie in his bunny suit was all hand painted with a tiny brush using “Julep – Kelly” for his face, “Milani – white” eyes, toothpicked “China Glaze – Liquid leather” and made it look like his eyes were rolling, mouth and nose using “Sally Hansen – Ruby Sequin”. The bunny suit was painted using “OPI – Think in Pink” for the light pink part of the suit, and the under the ears the brighter pink is the Ruby Sequin. I then painted his hair using “OPI – DS Classic”, and his glasses using “Sally Hansen – Forbidden Fugde”

Ring: Red Ryder BB Gun, painted with a tiny brush “China Glaze – liquid leather” and “Revlon – Stone” I then with the same brush wrote out Red Ryder using “Barry M – Red”

Pinky: Ralphie’s dad had won a Leg lamp which was his gift, I used “Julep – Kelly” for the leg shape, and “China Glaze – liquid leather” for the shoe and the fringe on the lamp shade. I then lastly manipulated my “KandNails CK-02” fish net stamp to just go over the leg with liquid leather.

Without further adieu, here is the look!

What do you think of my week 2 submission? Please visit the link here, and if you like mine, click the drop down and vote. Please remember that this is, week two’s round, you can vote once per round, per email address.

Thank you so much for everyone’s support thus far, I absolutely do not think of myself as an artist, and I am completely honored to be participating with some great artists.

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HMOTD 6 – Bitten, A Bloody Manicure @JulepMaven

I have always been fascinated/obsessed (call it what you will) 😀 with all things Vampire for as long as I can remember. I very much enjoy “True Blood”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “Twilight”,  etc. but my interest really dates before those. Naturally I had to incorporate Vampires somehow into a Halloween Mani of the Day eventually.

Since I had just done fangs for my Werewolf nails, I wanted to do something different. I googled for some inspiration. All that came up were: blood drips, fangs, or grayish/purple Dracula type vampires. I noticed nothing featured an actual vampire bite, so I became inspired…

I bring you “Bitten”, Bloody Nails!

I made puncture wounds from a vampire’s bite, with the blood dripping down to create a messy pile on the tip that doubles as a french manicure effect!

Polishes used to create this look were: “Julep – Kelly” for base on all nails, 2 coats, a mix of “e.l.f. medium red and dark red” to create the blood, and “China Glaze – Liquid Leather” for the puncture wounds. Tools used were: dotting tool, sponge, and paper plate.

Here’s how I did it:

• Step 1: Base Coat
• Step 2: Two coats of “Julep – Kelly”
• Step 3: Pour a couple of drops of your red on a paper plate, then with your sponge, dab tip or corner in the red and create a sponged circle on all nails
• Step 4: Pour a drop of the black on your paper plate, or chosen palette, and with your dotting tool create dots in center of sponged circle to create wound
• Step 5: with your dotting tool re-dip back into the red and create blood drips from wound holes and then on tips. *Remember messy and uneven is good, its blood!
• Step 6: Top coat (I used Seche Vite)

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NOTD 67 – Lush Lacquer <3

Salt and Pepa’s here, and we’re in  effect,

Want you to push it, babe

Coolin’ by day then at night working up a sweat

C’mon girls, let’s go show the guys that we know

How to become number one in a hot party show

Now push it
Oh sorry, got a little caught up in the moment 😀 It’s Friday woot woot! and I have for you my very first Indie polish.  I purchased two minis from Lush Lacquer, and the one I am showing you today is Salt n’ Peppa, hence the rambling lyrics above. (I honestly don’t know if they meant this literally salt and pepper or The Salt N’ Peppa, but of course that is the first thing that comes to my mind!) I have to say I am so mad at myself for buying the minis rather than the full size bottle! I absolutely LOVE this glitter and now I will be afraid to use it all, I must buy a full size very soon! The formula is flawless, it’s a clear with silver glitter, shimmer specks, white and black dotted glitters, black and white hexagonal glitter flakes, white and black rectangular flakes, and white and black long glitters. I only used one coat over “Julep- Kelly” and I LOVE how it turned out! “Kelly” is like the perfect pink/nude for this polish. Next time I might do it over a brighter color, maybe the “OPI – Did it on em” that might be fun ❤

Without further ado, here is one coat “Lush Lacquer – Salt n’ Pepa” atop two coats of “Julep – Kelly” topped off with “Seche Vite”

So what do you think of this glitter? And my color combo? Do you own any Lush Lacquers, if so, what is your favorite that I should try next?

PS. sorry if you will now be singing Salt N’ Peppa in your head all day now, I have been humming it since I started the blog post and it won’t leave 😀

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Day 30 Inspired by a Tutorial – 31Challenge

Good Morning Lovelies 😀 As for all the days of the challenges, I research to find the funnest designs to use for each days of the challenge. As soon as I am done the first day’s mani I am already thinking for the next couple of days what can I do fun for the next days challenge; this day was no different. I searched on google “Nails Inspired by a Tutorial” and came across a Splatter Mani Tutorial. How Fun! I Haven’t done that yet!! I found this on The PolishAholic’s Blog.

For this challenge, I used “Julep – Kelly”  for a base, “Orly – Lucky Duck” and “Essie – Vermillionaire” for the splatters. I followed The PolishAholic’s Tutorial that was super easy to follow, Fabulous! and can be found here.

I painted by base coat, which unfortunately requires two coats, I have found that the Juleps don’t dry as quickly, which is why I say unfortunately. I then took my green and orange and made about two drops of each onto a paper plate. Per the tutorial I used my straw and blew into the opposite end to make the splatters.

I absolutely love this mani and how cute it came out. It was to great to have come across such an easy tutorial to follow 😀

Here are my pics below:

So on a side note / rant… I was kind of upset at how some came out, I loved my thumbs the best how there were little tiny splatters. I liked the little splatters the best; but then I thought about it, and if you splattered paint on the ground the “real” way with a paint brush, you are going to get those big splatters too. I came to love the rest of the nails 😀 Hope you enjoy them too!

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Day 23 Inspired by a Movie – 31Challenge

I would like to start by saying,  Again, that I am in LOVE with Seche Vite’! When I did my Drying Drops articles and posts, many bloggers recommended it, but I just couldn’t see spending the money on a new top coat yet when I had just purchased the drops. Last week, I gave in, they had little minis at the Register of Image Beauty.  When I tell you this top coat dries in SECONDS I mean seconds! I tried it on the neon the other day and thought that maybe it was just because neon dries quickly anyway. After doing these nail arts and anyone that has worked with black polish can tell you how it bleeds or drags when you do top coat, I did not even wait for it to dry, put the top coat and WHAM Dry! wootz!

Anyway, onto the look, here we go 🙂 I am certainly no artist, if you play Draw Something with me you will know I draw stick figures 🙂

Here is a closer look of the nails:

And here is my inspiration:

Movie Images Provided by Google Images Search

The Polishes that I used were, “nail-aid Peeling Nails” as the base for all, Some of the nails were “Revlon – Coastal Surf” as base, one was “Elf – Medium Red” and “Spoiled Wet N Wild – Designated Driver” and “Julep – Kelly” The remaining colors were used for the art including some of the ones already listed “Elf – Light Red” , “Sally Hanson – Purple Pulse” “Julep – Oscar” “Milani – white”, “Essie – Vermillionaire”, “OPI – Planks A lot”, “Zoya – Shawn” , “Sinful Colors – Happy Ending”, “Ulta – Concrete Evidence”, “OPI – Fly”, Sinful Colors – Blackest Black”

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Day 10 Gradient – 31Challenge

Let me start by saying that this is my first Gradient look, let me then continue by saying how difficult I felt this was for me, so I hope I did alright hope you like it!

I originally tried with a dark blue and a light sparkle and was unsuccessful… ugh..  I felt it just wasn’t gradient enough. I then looked up tips to complete this look and someone suggested a make up sponge… ugh x2.. that also did not work for me. I’m not sure if it was the polish combinations I was choosing, the make up sponge, or just that it was the first time I was trying this look… but it was exhausting.

Finally, what I ended up choosing was a lighter color and a sparkle. After the sponge attempt I decided to do some research and came across a tutorial Click here  where the girl used a light color and chose a pink sparkle. She painted 25% of her nail, then 50%, then 75% so that each time the look would be darker as you went down due to the varying coats of polish on the finger. That worked! Here’s how it came out:

 This was my final attempt as soon as I was done, I supposed I was pleased enough. Now I am determined to master it, so keep checking back after this challenge as I will attempting it again!

The polishes I ended up using were”Julep – Kelly” for the base, then “OPI- Katy Perry’s Collection – Last Friday Night” as my Gradient effect.

Here is another look at the next day and finished product.

I Hope you enjoyed my day # 10 of the 31 Nail Challenge , and I’m interested to hear what your thoughts are on the Gradient look?

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My March Julep Box

So my March Julep box came and I’m late posting it, sorry!  It came on Thursday. This month I received:

• Julep Elixir Organic Moroccan Argan Oil is legendary for its healing, conditioning, and anti-aging properties. Use it daily to hydrate and nourish skin, smooth split ends, and soften cuticles. Easily absorbed and lightweight, this powerhouse organic oil is gentle enough for all skin types (including acne-prone). Spring is the perfect time to revitalize your hair and give your skin a youthful, dewy glow from head to toe.
• Emma Julep Nail Vernis – soft and feminine seashell pink shimmer, so elegant alone or for extra shine over any shade.
• Kelly Julep Nail Vernis – a blushed white creme, the newest shade in runway neutrals for spring.

As a reminder, Julep is another monthly mystery beauty product delivery. At their website you fill out a Beauty Profile, and each month for $19.99 you get 2-3 polishes and a product that they feel fits your profile. You get a notification about 5 days before it is going to ship if you want to change your box for that month. The nail polishes usually retail for $14. a piece.

So my question for you is:  What Beauty related subscriptions do/have you participated in and do/did you enjoy them?

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